Doctor Needle (Terminal Secrets)
Doctor Needle 'is a character in the radioplay series Terminal Secrets. Sh'e appears as one of the main characters in the pilot episode, DOSE. Biography Indoctrination Doctor Needle was a unicorn scientist who worked in the medical division of Stable 81. While having a normal childhood by the standards of the stable, she was fortunate to discover that she was immune to the "Necrocerebriosis" disorder that plagued most of the residents. With a syringe cutie mark, she was assigned to the medical division to train under Doctor Vessel, who was leading the department at the time. It is under his tutelage that she was exposed to the dark truth behind the painful, deadly migraines the population suffered. While unnerved at first, she had been sufficiently groomed by Doctor Vessel to accept the cold ideology behind the work they did. Having come to terms with the reality of their situation, she accepted that there was no other option but to embrace her role. She did everything she could to further the mission they had carried for nearly two centuries. In her tenure, Doctor Needle eventually became the chief scientist. Doctor Vessel stepped down into an easier, support role for his twilight years. She carried on their day to day tasks and was happy to see improved immunity numbers during the period of her influence. Her personality was indelibly persuasive, almost seductive depending on the context. She was able to convince more and more couples to "mix." Based on their statistics they'd be able to increase the rate of natural immunity if those who were immune reproduced with those who weren't. Two immune stable dwellers pairing off provided near perfect chances their children would carry the immunity. However, convincing them to breed like rabbits would lower social stability in the long run than encouraging roughly equal family sizes in a mixed spectrum of couples. Despite her own immunity, and her own inner feelings, she never did settle down to create a family of her own. She had the occasional tryst over the years with some of the other scientists, but found it impossible to forge deeper feelings. It was a trend she noticed across other scientists in the history of Stable 81 as well. While she thought it potentially important to study, it felt too personal to lead that study herself... another trend she inferred from her predecessors. It was only when she received her own apprentice did she finally understand. Pink Pippin Apprenticeship A young filly named Pink Pippin had just received her own science-related cutie mark. She came to Doctor Needle enthusiastic and ready to learn. It was then that Doctor Needle realized that the impressionable mind was ready to be molded in her image. It gave her a newfound respect for the doctors who originally set the experiment in motion. She would guide Pinkin for many years, but was regularly frustrated by unfolding issues in the Stable. Under better circumstances, she felt she could have readied Pinkin for the truth by now. It had been eight years, around the time it took for Needle herself to be prepared. However, a wave of suicides greatly unsettled the residents of the stable. The serum didn't seem to be working like it used to and despite everything she tried, she could not figure out what was going wrong. One particular maintenance buck named Lug Nut began loudly stirring discontent after his own wife hung herself. Doctor Needle's persuasive nature could not counter the raw emotions he was igniting in the populace. Pinkin, a family friend of Lug Nut, was also becoming disturbed by the circumstances which set back any progress Needle had been making to properly groom her. Once Doctor Needle finally discovered what was going wrong with the serum... it was too late. Someone discovered the HVAC device originally responsible for the Stable 81 experiment. It was enough evidence for Lug Nut to lead the dwellers into revolt. They overwhelmed the Overmare's office, killing her in the process. Upon capturing Pink Pippin, they were able to break into the medical level as well. Once being held at gunpoint, Lug Nut demanded the antidote for what he believed was an ongoing poisoning of the Stable population, with only select individuals being given the real cure. With no other options left, Doctor Needle candidly explained to him that there was no cure... and revealed the true nature of the Stable 81 experiment. Pinkin was horrified, to Needle's disappointment. She used her last breath to reassert her conviction that they were doing the right thing, and insinuated that Lug Nut was the one responsible for the suicides following his wife's death. Lug Nut shot her in the head, point blank, with a double-barreled shotgun. Quotes * "I’m immune to the pain also... And it is with that gift that doctors like us can work towards further discovery so that we can help our fellow pony. You see, the pain is caused by an error in the mind... Something that’s been there from the very beginning. And that error has carried down through the generations except for a special group of ponies like your mother... who have developed a natural immunity to that error." * "In her case, yes. But ever since then, Mr. Lug Nut, you have spread an entirely new disease amongst the population. In your drunken misery, you instigated so much fear and doubt that the dose no longer worked. And like a plague you spread that disease to every one of the sick minds in the stable, so that imaginary cure to the imaginary disease no longer worked. I’d say, every dosage death and every suicide since your wife was entirely YOUR FAULT." Behind The Scenes * Doctor Needle was voiced by longtime EAST Corp actress HipNerDunk. * She is based in some ways on Dr. Catherine Halsey from the Halo Universe. * Doctor Needle is meant to exemplify the god complex of the Stable-Tec scientists and Overmares that set all of the experiments in motion. Even at the very end, she does not express any remorse, but an unrepentant conviction in what they were trying to do. This morally flawed and destructive mindset would set the tone for the rest of the Terminal Secrets series. Category:EAST Corp Productions Category:Terminal Secrets Category:Main Characters (Terminal Secrets)